Self‐reported visual difficulties in Europe and related factors: a European population‐based cross‐sectional survey

• Published in: Acta Ophthalmologica
• Main Authors: Leveziel, Nicolas, Marillet, Simon, Braithwaite, Tasanee, Peto, Tunde, Ingrand, Pierre, Pardhan, Shahina, Bron, Alain, Jonas, Jost, Resnikoff, Serge, Little, Julie-Anne, Bourne, Rupert R.A.
• Other Authors: Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), Centre hospitalier universitaire de Poitiers = Poitiers University Hospital (CHU de Poitiers La Milétrie ), CIC Poitiers – Centre d'investigation clinique de Poitiers (CIC 1402), Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers (UP)-Centre hospitalier universitaire de Poitiers = Poitiers University Hospital (CHU de Poitiers La Milétrie )-Direction Générale de l'Organisation des Soins (DGOS)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Laboratoire de neurosciences expérimentales et cliniques (LNEC Poitiers ), Université de Poitiers = University of Poitiers (UP)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham (UAB), Moorfields Eye Hospital, Queen's University Belfast (QUB), Service d'Ophtalmologie (CHU de Dijon), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Dijon - Hôpital François Mitterrand (CHU Dijon), Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation Dijon (CSGA), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC), Universität Heidelberg Heidelberg = Heidelberg University, University of New South Wales Sydney (UNSW), University of Ulster, European Commission. Grant Numbers: EUROVISION research program H2020-EU.1.3.2 , University Pierre et Marie Curie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: prevalence; vision impairment; vision loss; Europe; associated factors; epidemiology; ophthalmology; [SDV.MHEP.OS]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Human health and pathology/Sensory Organs; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02975310; https://doi.org/10.1111/aos.14643

International audience PURPOSE: There is a relative paucity of self-reported vision problems data in European countries. METHODS: In this context, we investigated self-reported vision problems through European Health Interview Survey 2, a cross-sectional European population survey based on a standardized questionnaire including 147 medical, demographic and socioeconomic variables applied to non-institutionalized individuals aged 15 years or more in 28 European countries, in addition to Iceland and Norway. RESULTS: The survey included 311 386 individuals (54.18% women), with overall crude prevalence of self-reported vision problems of 2.07% [95% CI; 2.01-2.14]. Among them, 1.70 % [1.61-1.78] of men, 2.41% [2.31-2.51] of women and 4.71% [4.53-4.89] of individuals aged 60 or more reported to have a lot of vision problems or to be not able to see. The frequency of self-reported vision problems was the highest in Eastern European countries with values of 2.43% [2.30-2.56]. In multivariate analyses, limiting long-standing illness, depression, daily smoking, lack of physical activity, lower educational level and social isolation were associated with self-reported vision problems with ORs of 2.66 [2.42-2.92], 2.16 [2.01-2.32], 1.11 [1.01-1.23], 1.31 [1.21-1.42], 1.29 [1.19-1.40] and 1.45 [1.26-1.67], respectively, while higher income was associated with less self-reported vision problems with OR of 0.80 [0.73-0.86]. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated inequalities in terms of prevalence of self-reported vision problems in Europe, with higher prevalence in Eastern European countries and among women and older individuals.